The Indians' runs came on an RBI single by Carlos Santana off Stephen Strasburg in the fourth inning and a sacrifice fly by Jason Kipnis in the eighth.

That was enough for Kluber, who threw 114 pitches, 73 of them strikes. In his last two starts, he has given up one run in 16 innings.

"I'm gaining a lot of confidence and I'm being aggressive and pounding the zone," he said.

He especially did that in the fourth and sixth innings, when the Indians' suddenly shoddy defense -- five errors in the last two games -- put Kluber in identical jams not of his own doing: runners at first and third and no outs.

He wiggled out of the fourth inning jam by striking out three batters in a row: Adam LaRoche, Jayson Werth and Ian Desmond.

He wiggled out of the sixth-inning jam by striking out Ryan Zimmerman and getting LaRoche to ground into an inning-ending double play.

"In both those innings, we would have been happy getting out of them giving up one run, but he got out of both of them with no runs. Wow," said Francona.

"The key is to take it pitch by pitch," said Kluber. "You can't be thinking you have to strikeout this guy or get this guy hit into a double play. Those things happen as a result of making good pitches. You can't get ahead of yourself and start trying to make things happen."

Kluber made nothing happen for the Nationals, who statistically are the worst offensive team in the National League not named "Marlins."

But you can only beat the team you are playing that day, and Kluber on Sunday was too much for the Nationals.

"He was so good, right from his first pitch. He was in attack mode all day. It was fun to watch," said Francona.

It was also extremely timely. The Indians have won four of their last five games, and seem to be on the rebound from that dreadful 4-16 flat tire that ruined their last road trip.

"During the season you're going to have struggles like that. That's baseball," said Bourn.

Strasburg, making his first start after a two-week stay on the disabled list with a strained muscle in his back, was almost as good as Kluber. Strasburg pitched five innings and held the Indians to one hit. That one hit, Santana's single, drove in the only run Strasburg allowed -- and the only run Kluber needed.